European Committee for the prevention of Torture : 
Publication of the reports on three visits to Greece
and of the responses of the Greek Government

Strasbourg, 13.09.01 – The Greek Government has agreed to the publication of the reports of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on its visits to Greece from 4 to 6 November 1996, 25 May to 6 June 1997 and 26 October to 2 November 1999, and of the Government’s responses.

Under Article 11 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the information gathered by the Committee in relation to a visit, its report and its consultations with the State concerned are confidential. However, the State may decide to lift the rule of confidentiality provided for in the Convention.

The November 1996 ad hoc visit was devoted to the Attica State Mental Hospital for Children, at Rafina. The hospital had previously been visited in 1993 in the course of the CPT’s first periodic visit to Greece and the conditions prevailing there at the time had led to a series of recommendations by the Committee. The visit carried out in 1996 was aimed at verifying on the spot progress made since the 1993 visit.

The CPT's report and the response of the Greek Government are set out in document CPT/Inf (2001) 17.

It was the Committee’s second periodic visit to Greece. In the course of this visit, the CPT’s delegation followed up certain issues examined in 1993 concerning the treatment and conditions of detention of persons in police custody and in prison, as well as the treatment of patients placed involuntarily in a psychiatric hospital; particular attention was paid to the conditions of detention of foreign nationals deprived of their liberty while awaiting deportation.

The CPT delegation visited the following places:

- Police Headquarters, Alexandras Avenue
- Drapetzona Police Station, Piraeus
- Police Station No.2, East Terminal, Athens Airport
- Hellenikon Holding Centre for Aliens
- Holding Areas at Athens Airport
- Piraeus Holding Centre for Aliens, Asklepiou Street
- Piraeus Transfer Centre for Prisoners, Notara Street

- Police Headquarters, Alexandras Street
- Police Station, Samartzi Street

- Police Headquarters, 28 October Street
- Perama Centre for Illegal Immigrants

- Police Headquarters
- Police Station, Democracy Square

Prisons

- Korydallos Prison Complex, Athens
- Corfu Prison
- Diavata Judicial Prison, Thessaloniki

Psychiatric establishments

- Attica State Mental Hospital, Athens
- Thessaloniki State Mental Hospital

Other establishments

- Detention facilities of the Courts of First Instance, Evelpidon, Athens

The findings made during the 1997 periodic visit prompted the CPT to make a series of recommendations – a number of them urgent – designed to improve the situation of foreign nationals detained in police establishments while awaiting deportation. Having regard inter alia to alarming reports which the Committee continued to receive about the conditions of detention of such persons, a CPT delegation carried out an ad hoc visit to Greece in October/November 1999. In the course of this visit, the delegation held discussions in particular with the Minister of Public Order and assessed the concrete measures taken since the 1997 visit.

The 1999 ad hoc visit also afforded an opportunity for the delegation to review the measures taken to implement the CPT’s recommendations in respect of the Korydallos Prison Complex and to carry out a visit to the Institution for Male Juvenile Offenders in Avlona, which had been opened in August 1998.

The delegation visited the following places:

- Attica General Police Directorate, Athens, Alexandras Avenue 
- Drapetzona Police Station, Piraeus, Socratous Street 
- Glyfada Police Station, Dousmanis Street
- Kolonos Police Station, Athens, Laodamantos Street 
- Omonia Police Station, Athens, Socratous Street 
- Police Station at Athens Airport, East Terminal 
- Holding areas for foreigners at Athens Airport, East Terminal 
- Piraeus Holding Centre for Aliens, Asklepiou Street 
- Athens Transfer Centre for prisoners, Kavafi Street 
- Piraeus Transfer Centre for prisoners, Notara Street

- Alexandroupolis Police Station and Police Directorate 
- Transitional Detachment holding facility for illegal aliens, Feres

Prisons

- Korydallos Prison Complex
- Institution for Male Juvenile Offenders, Avlona.

The reports concerning the 1997 periodic visit and the 1999 ad hoc visit are set out in document CPT/Inf (2001) 18. The responses of the Greek Government are set out in document CPT/Inf (2001) 19.

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The CPT was set up under the 1987 European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Forty-one of the forty-three member States of the Council of Europe are bound by the Convention: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. When they joined the Council of Europe in January 2001, Armenia and Azerbaijan undertook to ratify the Convention within one year.

The CPT is composed of persons from a variety of backgrounds: lawyers, medical doctors, police and prison experts, persons with parliamentary experience, etc. The Committee's task is to examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. For this purpose, it is entitled to visit any place where such persons are held by a public authority and to interview those persons in private. The Committee may formulate recommendations to strengthen, if necessary, their protection against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The CPT organises periodic visits as well as other visits which appear to it be required in the circumstances.

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The CPT's reports and the responses of the Greek Government can be obtained from:

A 6 page summary of the CPT's main findings concerning the May/June 1997 visit can be faxed or e-mailed upon request.

Information may also be provided by: